To our veterans

• November 11, 2013

Lest we forget. For those who served, I remember you. You carved the path along which I walk today. You came of many backgrounds. You were man and woman. You joined to serve for your own reasons. Perhaps you were conscripted. Your service may have occurred recently or far in the distant past before I was born. It may have been distant and in anger, it may have been nearby in peacetime. Read More

A crisis of morality

• October 24, 2013

I hate having a crisis of morality. My four cornerstones are to be honest, to be trustworthy, to be fair (whatever that means) and to be respectful. I really, really hate to be called out when I don’t live up to my own standards - although I don’t mind so much when I see an act so egregious by someone else that I question my own stance and entirely change my attitude in life. Read More

Calgary Civic Election 2013

• October 22, 2013

So I lost my last blog post. Maybe it’s for the best, this one won’t be quite so vitriolic. I hope. I know I haven’t been as involved in this election as I was in 2013 for very personal issues that have arose. This year hasn’t gone as planned and I have a lot of work ahead of me still. Although I haven’t been as active as 2010, I have still been involved and informed, and I don’t feel that will ever change now. Read More

Dearest BlackBerry,

• September 21, 2013

I’m up early, I’m in a thinking mode, I may as well blog. And with yesterday’s horrendous news about my beloved BlackBerry, I guess I better put in my two cents about the whole mess. First off, and let me put is as bluntly as I can possibly put this, I am not giving up my BlackBerry any time soon. I am not giving up on BlackBerry as a company, I am definitely not planning to go to any other phone. Read More

Dziadek's Tie Pin

• September 17, 2013

This is my grandfather’s tie pin. Dziadek’s tie pin. It is beautiful and my favourite memento of him. I know it was a gift to him. It is real gold, I have no idea the quality, and has six birth stones set in a circle. I don’t even remember which belongs to whom. One is Dziadek’s, one is Babcia’s. Two are for my uncles, one is for my Aunt. One is for my Mom. Read More

As It Happens - The Remix

• September 4, 2013

My letter sent tonight to As It Happens: Hello Jeff, hello Carol. I doubt you’ll recognize me just from name alone. I’m the fellow that called in many, many years ago (maybe the 40th anniversary?) That alone might not give you much of a clue, but the next part will. I’m the dork that began reciting the phone number along with Barbara Budd. Four-one-six, two-zero-five, three-three three-one. I first noticed it when there was a guest host (Jeff, was that you? Read More

Reflecting on a Dream

• August 29, 2013

I have always known who Martin Luther King Jr. was. Always. In and of itself, that statement may not be remarkable. Dr. King was a powerful orator and a deeply driving force for civil rights in the USA. He had a great affect on millions of people, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics and millions of others not enumerated. Billions upon billions of people should know who Martin Luther King was. Read More

Make Helping a Habit

• July 30, 2013

I am a fixer. I want to repair things that are broken. I want to right what is wrong. It’s part of why I value my career. Each and every day I get to fix something, or stop something from breaking, or make sure I can recover something in case of loss. It requires attention to detail, keeping yourself organized with good notes, and a lot of foresight. When I make a mistake in the foresight department (and I do that a lot! Read More

Provide Proper Flood Maps Now

• July 19, 2013

The difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is an uncrossable chasm. But the difference between ‘right’ and ‘kinda right’ can be a very, very large gap too. I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to reconcile the details from over the past month. It’s been tough, it’s been inspiring, it’s been hot and sweaty work followed up with sweet refreshment. The flood has unquestionably been unprecedented. No one has seen a flood this bad before, this was truly major. Read More

Building Resiliency Through One Positive Action Every Day

• July 9, 2013

Why do I believe in doing one thing every day to make Calgary a better city? It isn’t because I have had a long abiding love of the city. If you do not know the story, I was planning on staying in Calgary until 2018 and then leaving it behind for good. “Calgary had become too big, too unfriendly, it had lost touch with what it what it had been,” I once thought not too long ago. Read More